Affiliated Associate Professor

Overview

Dr Mark Turner is a tenured Associate Professor in Food Microbiology in the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland (UQ). Since completing his PhD at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) under the supervision of Prof Phil Giffard, he has undertaken postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Prof John Helmann (Cornell University, USA, 1999-2000) and in the CRC for Diagnostic Technologies (QUT) (2000-01). He subsequently supported his own position through being awarded a Dairy Australia Fellowship (2001-03) and an NHMRC New Investigator Grant (2004-06). He accepted an ongoing teaching and research position at UQ in 2007 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2011 and Associate Professor in 2015. He leads a research team in the area of food quality and safety with current grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC Linkage, ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub and ARC Industry Transformation Training Centre schemes) and Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA). He has also attracted funding from Dairy Innovation Australia Ltd (DIAL) and Geoffrey Gardiner Dairy Foundation (GGDF). His current research focus is in lactic acid bacteria genetics, stress signaling, cheese cultures, antifungal and antipathogen (Salmonella and Listeria) biocontrol applications. Mark or his group members have presented invited or selected seminars in the USA, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Indonesia in food quality and safety. He has supervised 15 PhD and MPhil students to completion and currently supervises 8 PhD students, 1 postdoctoral research fellow and 1 research assistant. He is currently the Discipline Head of Food Science & Technology at UQ and teaches into food microbiology, food safety and food biotechnology courses and coordinates the Master of Food Science and Technology coursework programs. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology (FASM) and a member of the editorial boards of mBio and Journal of Food Protection. He was the recipient of the 2017 Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) Keith Farrer Award of Merit.

Research Interests

Lactic acid bacteria genetics and manipulationThis research interest includes fundamental structure and function studies of genes/proteins as well as applications of food and probiotic lactic acid bacteria. These include the economically important cheese fermentation starter bacterium Lactococcus lactis. We are interested in identifying the roles of genes involved in moderating stress resistance (oxidative, cell envelope and osmotic stress) with a focus on understanding c-di-AMP signalling. Techniques used in this project include gene inactivation/overexpression, suppressor mutant selection, next generation genome sequencing and bioinformatics. This work is funded by the ARC Linkage scheme and Dairy Innovation Australia Limited.

Bacillus spp spore surveilance and control in dairy productsThis research area centres around the isolation, identification and tracking of spore-forming Bacillus spp in Australian dairy products. We are looking at developing speciation and genotyping methods to type dominant Bacillus species to allow monitoring. This revolves around using real-time (qPCR) methods using a Qiagen Rotorgene Q real-time PCR machine with high resolution melt (HRM) capability that we have in our lab. We are also exploring ways to control spores in dairy products. This work is funded by Dairy Innovation Australia Limited and Geoffrey Gardiner Foundation.

Biocontrol of bacterial pathogens on ready-to-eat vegetablesThis research area involves the isolation and identification of naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on ready-to-eat vegetables which have antagonistic activity against bacterial pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, Listeria and Salmonella. These LAB will be tested as biocontrol agents against pathogens on ready-to-eat vegetables and the mechanism(s) of action identified. Techiques in this project involve culture-based antimicrobial screening, PCR, DNA sequencing and developed model vegetable growth systems. We have a collection of over 850 LAB from a variety of different vegetables and fruits in our culture collection. This work is funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA).